Free of Sway

Suddenly. Today, the 2nd day of living with my 84 300D. Seems like there is no place to go past the glow plug light, but I WAS turning the car on by going one click past. Now, nothing.

Any experience will be gratefully accepted.

Connie
Raleigh

Free of Sway

I am going to post my own reply, since my experience was painful ($$$) and others might avoid it. I had a new MB mechanic for my new MB and he replaced the lock cylinder and ordered me a nice MB pair of keys for a good price, maybe $75.

A couple of weeks later, in PA, I couldn't turn the key at all and had to have the car towed to someone who wound up knowing a lot more than the guy in Raleigh: he said there are 3 dependent parts associated with the lock cylinder and since the car is 22 years old, he replaces all 3. The guy in Raleigh just replaced the cylinder. Since the key wouldn't move at all, everything had to be drilled out. The labor, plus additional parts, was over $400.

For me, the lesson isn't to replace all 3 parts next time, the lesson is to find a mechanic who thinks. I have a new mechanic now. Time will tell!

Connie

johnshasteen

Here's a tip that I got from Larry Egbert, an MB guru down in the Rio Grande Valley: I had the same problem and called him, he said to replace both the ignition lock and the steering wheel lock ($80 for the ignition and key, and $156 for the steering wheel lock). He told me in the meantime, until I could get around to replacing them, to cut the wheels hard to one side or the other when you park and the steering lock will not engage - no chance of locking up. Well, I replaced the ignition lock right away because it only takes about five minutes to swap, but I haven't gotten around to replacing the steering wheel lock yet - still cutting the wheels hard to the right when I park - finally the weather is getting cooler here in Texas (all the way down into the 70-80's), so it's time to tear into the steering column.

lysinger

I had a similar problem. I replaced the steering wheel lock. That was one heck of a job.

To get you home in the mean time, pull the lock cylinder and use some long needle nose pliers. Those will get you to pinch the sprung bits together and turn the ignition to start the car. You can use a bit of brute force since you won't be bending up expensive keys.

I replaced the module (ignition? security? I don't remember, I'm still scarred from that replacement) that connected to the steering wheel lock at the same time.